P-02 2014 Excavation Season at San Miceli: Exploring Early Christianity in Rural Roman Sicily

The 2014 season at San Miceli, an ancient Roman/Byzantine settlement near the modern town of Salemi, was excavated with the purpose of better understanding the emergence of Christianity in western Sicily. Previous excavations at this site, the first in 1893 by Antonio Salinas, provided a tantalizing glimpse into the early centuries of the Christian era. The site includes a partially (not stratigraphically) excavated basilica that some date as early as the 4th century CE, and which continued in use until it was destroyed sometime around the 6th century. This basilica was established within the confines of what appears to be a Roman/Byzantine village that surface sherding indicates may go back as early as the 2nd century. The Andrews University project at San Miceli seeks to better understand both the establishment and socio-cultural development of this early Roman village, as well as the later emergence of Christianity within the context of a rural Roman town. In pursuit of these goals two fields were opened during the 2014 season: Field A was opened in order to expose the Roman/Byzantine village to the south of the basilica; Field B, the basilica itself, was opened with the hope of dating the structure and developing a better stratigraphic understanding of the basilica and its history. This poster will describe this initial season’s excavation and its results